The WORD today reminds me that God focuses on our salvation, not our condemnation.
Confrontation should always be done in love.
When you confront someone and tell the person what is wrong with him, the focus should be on conversion. The aim should be to make the person realize the mistake and have him learn from it. And have him change and improve. The focus should not be on condemnation or fault finding. Focus should not be on humiliating the person and making him feel bad about himself. This is what God wants from us.
In the first reading, Hezekiah was supposed to die. He was given a few days to fix everything. But he prayed hard. And God, in his infinite goodness and mercy, healed him and extended his life. God wants salvation. God wants healing. Not death or condemnation.
In the gospel, Jesus focused on life instead of the law. He let them do work and eat on a Sabbath, even if it was prohibited by the law. His focus was on them. Was on life. Not on blindly following the law. He desires mercy, not sacrifice.
God loves us, and wants our salvation, not for us to be condemned.
With this in mind, we should not be afraid to come to God. We should not be afraid that he will punish us or what we did cannot be forgiven. He is a loving God, and his love is greater than our sins. He wants us to he saved, not to be punished. He wants us to live. And we can only really live if we come to him and allow him to love us. To fill us. And to change us.
How do I see God? Do I see him as a strict and punitive God, or as a generous and loving God? Do I confront others? When I do, is my purpose to change and improve them, or do I just want to embarrass, blame or point fingers? What is God telling me today?
May we always remember how much God loves us, and that he wants us to be saved. May we be one with the psalmist to proclaim that God saved us, and we shall not die in sin.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to love and serve you. Thank you for the reminder. Lord, sorry for the times I get scared of coming to you. Sorry for thinking that you cannot forgive me. Sorry for thinking that my sins are so great that you cannot look at me with love. Help me always remember your love for me. Lord, I allow you to love me. I allow you to fill me. Because I know that it is only through your love that I can live, that I can be saved. Love me, fill me, and transform me. As you do, use me to share your light in this world. Amen.
Blessed Day!
In Christ,
-g-
Ps
See related reflections:
July 17, 2020
Friday of Week 15; St. Leo IV
FIRST READING
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD:
“O LORD, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you!” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; I will be a shield to this city.”
Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken and applied to the boil, that he might recover. Then Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the LORD?”
Isaiah answered:
“This will be the sign for you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised: See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz go back the ten steps it has advanced.” So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12abcd, 16
R. (see 17b) You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Once I said, “In the noontime of life I must depart! To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
I said, “I shall see the LORD no more
in the land of the living. No longer shall I behold my fellow men among those who dwell in the world.”
in the land of the living. No longer shall I behold my fellow men among those who dwell in the world.”
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent, is struck down and borne away from me; You have folded up my life, like a weaver who severs the last thread.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
Those live whom the LORD protects; yours is the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life.
R. You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die.
ALLELUIA
John 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord, I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Matthew 12:1-8
Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to the them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
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